Direction signal for motor vehicles



VNov. 3', 1931.

.1. c. CHESTER 1,829,890

DIRECTION SIGNAL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES F'ild March 24, 1931 INVENTORC//J/l/Mw C. @bens/er 1 'atented Nov. 3.

f f ononns'rnaor RIVRBANKCALIFORNI'A;

" DfnEoTIoNfsreivn'L rotfiuoron vnr-freins ,i

` ,Application mea kMarch 24, 1e31qfsera1 No. 524,837.y

.i invention" to mechanical hand actuated signalsfor motor vehicles:`The principal objectof myinvention is to provide ay signal-of thisgeneralcharacter so arranged 15 thatit may be mountedWithoutfany'changel in practically anyelocation onany ltype of motorvehicles 'and by means yof which right y and left. hand signalsjwhichcan be readily c seen, both from in front and from the rear of '1.110the vehicle, may be easily and quickly given by driver of thecarwhenever necessary.

A further object of thel invention 1s to produce asnnple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which Will be'exceedingly effective for the Q15purpose for Which it is designed.

, These objects I accomplish bymeans of Y 'g such lstructure andrelativearrangement of Y Vparts as will fully appear by a'perusal of the Yfollowing specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of l@reference indicate correspondingparts in theseveral views.' L Y l Fig. '1 is a fragmentaryv perspectiveoutline yof a motor vehicle ofi the closed passenger type,'showing mysignal mounted thereon and in .position to indicate a left turn.

Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation of the signal device as mountedy inconnection with the vehicle in the position indicated in Fig. 1, but

showing the signal itselfmovingto 'denote a Vright hand turn. Y p f Fig.3 is a side view of the signal shown in an inverted and"neutral positionand mounted in connection With a relatively thick rib or frame pieceof'the vehicle.

yReferring now moreparticularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the

vsignal'structure comprises a'cylindrical body 1, openonly on one endand fitted with a removable cap 2.011 the other end. A rigid y tubularvshank 3iprojects radially from the side ofthe body ,near its' open end,which shank at its outer end has an enlarged flange 1.,k At said end atubular threaded extension Seis adjustably screwed into thev shank andlhas a nut 6 fixed .on itsl outer end'.` This eX- Vtension is ofsufficient length so that it may Y proj ect through a relatively thickrib, etc. and still. have a portion properly engaging the shapesandtypes of signal member than that 'propergrelationship tothe pinion atall times.

shank. In mounting this structure (which formsthe limmovable part of thesignalV apparatus) in place, the flange engages'the outer surfacepfthe`body of thevehicle. y The extension projects through the lmetalsheathingv 7 ,y as in Fig. 2, or through the 55 sheathing and a rib orframe beam, as in Fig. 3; the nut bearing.A against the inner surface ofthe body and clampingfthe flange against the outer surface. It is,ofcourse, to beunderstood that VWashers 8 of suitable char# acterarepreferably placed betweenthe body and the flangefand nut, so as'toprevent marring the surface.' ,Y l'Ikurnably mounted infr-the closed endofthe hodyl', centrally thereof and .proj ecting outwardly is a shaft 9;'.Ihisl shaft outwardlyof the body is split lengthwise to straddle asignal .plate 10. This platel is of suitable shape and materialandrissymmetrical relativewto the point of connection of the-shaft therewith.:It is preferably provided on both sides with the representationof ahand as at 11 both lhandspointing in the same direcf tion.' It is lhereto be understood that other shown can-be used if desired. j

' Fixed on the shaft inside the-body is a gear 12engaged by a pinion13.l This pinion is fixed on the adjacent end of a shaft 14; whichextends through and'is turnably mounted `in the shank 3 and theextension. For cheap- :ness of construction, the pinionand gear" arepreferably`V of the'pin and hole type, Which function satisfactorilyWizh little or no lubricati'on. AThe gear, which is in the form of 85yadisc,lias a running fit With the body, so that Vthe shaft 9 needsnobearing in the cap. By

adjustingr the cap, the gear may be shifted lengthwise inthe body so asto keep it in 0 Tojprevent possible` rattling of theshaft 9, andvertical shifting of the same if the signal body isfinverted .as shownin Fig.y 3, a compression spring 15 is disposedabout the shaftbetweenthe vgear and the closed end of the bod f i the installationshown for a modern closed car, the extension 5 wouldproj ectA into the.vehiclein front of the dash hoard.

l* ',lvhe shaft 14 therefore is connectedy at .its ,100

free end by areinovable bushing-.B to a flexible cable 16 which is`enclosed in a housing 17 as usual. The cable bends to'extend -vrangement shown, the handle is supported from a vbracket -l9which' ismounted on the trial position) or so that the hands l1 directly steeringcolumn of the vehicle in a position so that it is convenient to the handof the j Y Y a v f 'comprising abody,'a movable signal devicejsupportedtherefrom, a tubular shank proj e'ctin'g from one sideof thebody and adapted '-at its oppositeeend to abut against the eX- driver.j,

In operation therefore, it will-beseen that suitable turning of--theknob thewsignal plate l() may be turned so that it will be dis- .p

posed lengthwise of the vehicle (or in a neupoint to one-sideor theother.`Y Shaftlli and yassociated parts are notlimited in rotation toeif'lh'er direction,' and" diifere'nt signals 'can be 'given by rotatingthe knob inthe 'samedi--y rection, or'by reversingvthe directionof rotafY ktion 'as may `A`be" desired.v This vfeature makes the Ygivingo asignalvery easy to accomplish, and makes it immaterial whether the shanky3 isfdisposed in a direct transverse plane or not, since the signalyplatecan always ,seo

the-inner surface of the vehiclev body, a mov'- able signal devicelmounted in conjunction with the. body, and means to operate the device'including' a vshaft turnably mounted Y in and ,p extension;

2.1A'structure j i n extension is adjustably-screwed into the shank andthe nut is fixed thereon.

3. A direction signalfor motor rejecting through the shank vand vehiclesteriorof'the vehicle body, an extension in -sai'd'en'd of the shank and`projecting through 'as in daim 1, in' which the" be set by the driverin such plane, yregardless.

of .the setting of thel shank., The arrange ment and constructionoit/the devicek as a whole, enables the signal plate to be disposedabove the'body asin ,Figs. land 2, orbelow thesame 'as shown in, Fig.3,-1depending lon thecliaracter ofvehicleand the conditions 1 underwlich'iti's'mounted@` f InI therarrangenient shownin Fig. 3, the

flexible cable -isreinovedyan'd theoperating y VYknob, 18-is directlyVconnected to the outer end 'ofthe shaft'llt'. This provides an arrange Vvment which can onlyybe vused where the signal` l can be mountedinpositionso that the knob A thus disposed is convenient ,to the hand oithe driver.` f

From the foregoing description Vit will be yreadily seen that I haveproduced such a `device'ras substantially fulfills the objectsV O I 'theinvention as set'forth herein.`

l; wane this 'Spe'cincaaonsas forth in daan Q 'the presentand preferredconstruction of the device,still in practice such deviations `from suchdetail may bere-sorted to as-do not lform i as deined bytheappendedfclaims.

`a'departure from thefspiritot theinvention, .i

' .3 Having'thus described'myrinvention What' Y I claim as new anduseful and desire tose- LA direction signal for motor vehiclescomprising a body, a'tubular shank rigid with 'and projectingirommoneside of Athe body, j an enlarged flange-on the outer endof thej- Y shank adaptedto abut against the -outer'sur- 'Y face of a vehiclebody, a. tubular extension 1 i @projectingifrom lthey outer end oftheshank VI tand-longitudinally alined'therewith, said eX-V`tensionbei'ng adapted to project through lthe Y anut'ontheextension'tcengage P

